STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While vacationing in the Bahamas more than 30 years ago, Robert DeVincenzi lost his 1976 class ring from Wagner College.

"I was in the ocean and it fell off my finger. I tried to reach down to get it, but the waves took it out," he recalled. "I was so upset I lost my college ring."

On Oct. 29, DeVincenzi fled his Ocean Breeze home with his dog as raging tide waters from Hurricane Sandy rose outside his door. "I saw the water rising and everyone in the neighborhood was in the streets yelling, 'Get out! Get out!' he recalled. "I got 12 feet of water in my house. I lost my home and 90 percent of everything I own," said DeVincenzi, who has worked at Caleb Haley & Co. in the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan for 38 years.

Eleven hundred miles away, on a honeymoon cruise to Nassau, Randy and Linda Wilkinson stopped at Junkanoo Beach in the Bahamas on Nov.17. While relaxing on the beach, the Cape Girardeau, Mo., residents spotted an encrusted gold ring in the sand. Caked in coral and shells, the Wilkinsons scooped up the ring and took it to a jeweler in their hometown. Once clean and polished, DeVincenzi's name was visible.

Rebecca Colucci of Wagner College's office of alumni relations received a call from the Wilkinsons. "All the phone numbers we had on file for Robert DeVincenzi were disconnected," she said.

Ms. Colucci then Googled the place of business shown in DeVincenzi's alumni file. "The company came up, and so did his name, business phone number and e-mail address," she said. "I called him and told him his lost class ring had been found. He told me that he was a Hurricane Sandy victim, that he had lost everything in his home, which explained why his phone number was disconnected."

DeVincenzi was more than elated that his ring had been found. "This could have happened last month or last year, but how ironic that they found my ring right after I lost everything," said DeVincenzi. "This has got to be something from God."

Wilkinson mailed the ring to Ms. Colucci at Wagner College, and it was presented to DeVincenzi on Wednesday. "Linda and I both feel very blessed to be part of the story, knowing that God used us to return the ring to Robert," said Wilkinson, who speculated that Hurricane Sandy helped wash DeVincenzi's ring ashore.

"More than likely Sandy washed the ring up on the beach. After hearing a little about Sandy's impact on you, I am convinced that is the case. Maybe you lost your ring over 30 years ago so that I could be reminded that God cares about even the smallest things in our lives," wrote Wilkinson in his letter to DeVincenzi.---Follow @siadvance on Twitter